Expendables 03 The War Games of Zelos by Richard Avery; Edmund Cooper

Author:Richard Avery; Edmund Cooper [Cooper, Richard Avery; Edmund]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Phase eight CLEAR THE DECKS FOR ACTION

Conrad managed to get nearly four hours of rest. He had been very careful to settle down on the undamaged side of his face. Presently, the pain faded and exhaustion, plus whisky, triumphed. He slept well.

He had asked to be wakened at daybreak, but, by the time he had drifted off, daybreak was little more than an hour away. Lieutenant Smith let him sleep on. Wisely, he did not complain.

When he came down to the saloon for breakfast, he felt in reasonably good condition-apart from the stiffness in his cheek. Lieutenant Smith had prescribed liquid food only-to his intense distaste. He countermanded the order and asked Mark, the robot on saloon duty, for bacon and eggs. Chewing the bacon hurt like hell, but he managed to get two eggs, some bread and two cups of coffee down. He felt better.

The only other Expendable taking a late breakfast was Kwango. He looked haggard. Conrad guessed that he had not slept at all.

“Where are the rest, Kurt?”

Kwango briefed him. “Lieutenant Smith is on the nav deck; Ustinov is trying to chat up our young friend-on the right side of the pen; Mencken and Gautier are out in the hovercar, quartering. to the north, looking for Dolfuss; and all is well with the world.”

“I take it you have already had a fireside chat with Orylos. How did it work out?”

Kwango shrugged. “Not too well, Boss. He don’t take kindly to brainwashing… . These people have a very peculiar psychology. If they can’t eat it, screw it, or conquer it, they just don’t want to know. I had to hit him somewhat before he would even listen to me. He’s a very obstinate young man.”

“You didn’t break anything?” asked Conrad anxiously. “We are going to need him in one piece, I think.”

“Not even his spirit,” said Kwango. He sighed. “The boy is convinced that Scolopen is going to take us out in a very interesting fashion. His only reason for staying alive, he says, is so that he can see us chopped. After that, he proposes to chop himself, to expiate the terrible sin/shame/crime of being taken prisoner.”

“That doesn’t sound too good, Kurt. Did you try the big brother approach?”

“He doesn’t want to know about big brothers. But I picked up a lot of useful background. You want it now?”

Conrad finished his coffee. “Yes, Kurt, I want it now. Something tells me we are running out of time.”

Rapidly and efficiently, Kwango gave all the information he had gleaned. The real name of the city that Conrad had designated as Enigma was Rossvallin. It was, in effect, a city-state. Scolopen, King of Rossvallin and Emperor of the Known World, Triple Winner of the Games, had absolute authority. But he was not an hereditary king. Each year, he had to defend his title against the Winner of the Games.

As Kwango understood it, war had long ago been abolished on Zelos. Rossvallin, the largest city-state, dominated all the others. Altogether, there were ten-most of them being no more than large villages by Terran standards.

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